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(No Model.)

F. GRINNELL.

AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

No. 399,521. Patented Mar. 12, 1889.

N [nuen/af;

UNrTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK (IRINN ELL, (lF PROVIDENCE, RIIODE ISLAXI).

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,521, dated March 12, 1889.

Application filed February 3, 1888. serial No. 262,959. (No model.)

- of the city and county of Providence and State ot' Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire I lxtinguishers, of which the followingis a I speeitimition.

The object ot this invention is to protect; the sensitive parts ot' an auttnnatic lire-extinguisher t'rom corrosion or accumulations oil j dirt, gum, &e.; and it consists of a protectingeap fitted to the base of the extinguisher covering the valve and the heat-actualed device, the latter by being connected to both the cap and the valve through a lever fulcrumed on the, base, or an arm projecting therefrom serving; to hold both the valve and the cap to their I respective seats. By this means I may utilize the fluidpressureacting against the movable valve-seat as a force to hold the cap to its seat.

My invention also consists of minor improvements hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure represents a sectional view through the center of my improved extinguisher. Fig. 2 is a similar section taken on the line 2 9, Fig. 1.

The base or body of the extinguisher 1 is formed With a water-passage, 2, and is adapted to be screwed into a water-distributing pipe in the usual manner. Around the periphery of the base I form a seat, 3,for the protect-ingcap. The watenpassage is closed by a valve, 4, and this valve maybe secured to or form a part of a deflector in. the usual way, and I prefer, also, to use in connection with this invention the flexible valve-seat 5, the flexibility of the seat operating to keep the port closed while the valve moves the short dis- I tance necessary to force the cap to its seat.

The valve is held closed against thefluidf pressure in the water-pipe by astrut, 6, bearing against the cent-er of the valve at one end and the end of lever 7 at the other end. The said lever 7 is fulcrumed on a yoke, 8, secured to base 1 by pins 12, and the other end of the lever is held by a hook, i which may i be secured to the cap 10 by an v ot" the wellknown heat-actuated devices.

In Fig". l I have shown the cap 1H as made of glass with lugs 13 on its interior surface, and between these lugs I fasten a. metallic anchorage-plate, ll. to which the hook It is I attached by a joint, it, of fusible solder.

Upon the ota-urrence ol? a fire in the vicinity T of the sprinkler the solder melts and releases the hook fl, whereupon the fluid under pressure in the pipes forces the valve from its seat. it being no longer restrained by lever 7, and the fluid passing into the cap exerts its full force to throw it ot't of its seat, thus allowing the water to escape and extinguish the tire. The joint between the cap it) and base I may i be filled bya washer otpa per or cloth saturated with parat'tine or the like, or it may be simply greased over with any non-mrrodible sub stance that will melt at or below the operative temperature of the sprinkler.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a metallic cap, which may be painted on the outside to protect it i from corrosion, and in places where dirt is liable to aenunulate it may be painted, as shown, so as to present the minimum amount of horizontal surface. In Fig. 2 the heat-actuf. ated device 9 is-fastened directly to the cap, t and is formed of two pieces of metalas, for instance, brass and steel-which expand differently and which are fastened together, so that an abnormal increase of heat will cause it to bend out enough to release the lever 7 from the hook. In Fig. 2 I have also shown a rigid valve-seat and an adjustable cap-seat, 15; but I may use both the flexible valve-seat and the adjustable cap-seat in the same device, the two together giving a greater nioety of adjustment than either alone would give.

\Vhen an extinguisher such as shown in Fig. 1 is screwed into the wator-distributing pipe and the base properly painted, the risk of its failing to operate, even under the worst conditions, is exceedingly small. All the sensitive parts are completely protected from dirt or corrosion, the heat-actuated device is as far removed from the water as possible, the glass cap permits the radiant heat to have its 1' full effect upon the parts designed to be released thereby, and finally the pressure in the pipes is thought: into play, not only to hold t both the cap and valve closed atnormal teml peratures, but also when released by the h eat- 3 actuated device to open the valve and throw 1 off the cap. This feature of the eon fined fluid t passing into the cap and operating directly I upon the said cap to throw itfrom its seat is an important one in a device of this characi l t 1 ter, a slight sticking of the cap to its seat being easily overcome because of the extent of surface against which the pressure is exerted.

here a rigid seat is used, as shown in Fig. 2, I prefer to have a spring-as, for instance, a plate-spring, 25-interposed somewhere in the device holding the valve. The plate-sprin g shown bears upon the valve, and has a notch in its upper surface in which the strut rests. By this means the valve will be held to its seat by an elastic force, and the device will be rendered thereby less liable to leakage.

1. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination of a valve closing the water-passage, a cap seated on the extinguisher and covering the valve, and a heat-actuated device inside the cap connecting the valve and the cap through a lever the fulcrum of which is supported from the base of the extinguisher.

2. The combination of the base 1, having watenpassage 2, valve 4, closing said passage, yoke 8, supported: on the base 1, lever '7, fulcrumed on the said yoke, strut (5, between lever 7 and valve 4:, cap 10, fitted to base 1 and inclosing the parts, as shown, and a device, as

9, connecting lever 7 to the cap and releasing both cap and valve when subjected to a tem- 1 perature above the normal.

3. The combination of the extinguisherbase, having a water-passage, as shown, with an imperforate cap fitted air-tight to the base and inclosin g between it and the base a valve covering the water-passage, and also inclosin g a reacting thermal device, the latter having a bearing on a fixture to the base and holding both the valve and the cap to their respective seats. a

4. In an automatic lire-ex tin guisher, the combination of the base with a non-corrodible cap 'seated thereon, a valve closing a passage through the base, and a heat-actuated device secured to the insideof the cap, said device bearing against a support from the base, and a valve whereby the said device holds the valve and the cap to their seats.

5. The. combination of the extinguisherbody, having a water-passage closed by a valve, a flexible valve-seat for the valve, a cap seated on said body, and a heat-actuated device located entirely within the cap and holding the valve closed against its flexible seat, and also holding the cap to the body.

6. The combination of the extinguisherbody, having a water-passage and a valve for closing the same, with a cap inclosing a heatactuated device and the valve, the former having a support from the base and holding both the valve and the cap to their seats, and the said body having an adjustable seat for the cap.

7. In an automatic tire-extinguisher, the combination,with the extinguisher-body, having a water-passage, as shown, and a valve closing such passage, of a heat-actuated device supported from the base controlling the valve, and an imperforate non-corrodible cap seated on the body and inclosing said valve and heat-actuated device, the said cap having secured to its interior surface a metallic anchorage to which the said device is attached.

7 V S. The combination of the extinguisherbody, having the water-passage, as shown, and.

valve closing the same, a heat-actuated device supported from the base holding the valve closed,'and a glass cap seated on the base and inclosing the valve and heat-actuated device, the said cap having a metallic anchorage secured to its interior surface, to which the heatactuated device is attached.

FREDERICK GRINNELL. W itn esses:

RICHARD W. GRINNELL, WILMARTH H. THURsToN. 

